FOCUS: SMART BUILDINGS Bill Bates Bio Moving Forward


We don’t have the budgets, time or resources to start from scratch. We can’t just say things haven’t worked and go back to the drawing board. We need to look at what we’ve got and find ways to improve it in situ.


On existing systems that are “dumb”, it is possible to retrofit at a reasonable expense some forms of monitoring. Whether it be using heat meters or simple temperature probes to actually monitor the efficiencies of HIUs, there are easy solutions out there. There is no point in putting your HIU through tests and achieving a fabulous VWART (Volume Weighted Average Return Temperature) accreditation, if we then don’t know if that will maintain over the course of 6 months, 12 months, or even its life span. And the worst part of all is that we just don’t know.


Being Smart


Energy efficiency in a property is really not addressed by the use of a simple programmer controller for central heating and simple set up Thermostatic Radiator Valves (TRVs). Would you have in your house a switch that turned on all the lights just because you wanted to have the light on in your living room in the evening? That sounds ridiculous and a complete waste of


money and energy. Yet that’s pretty much what we do with heating systems using a single programmer controller. The opportunity to use electronic TRVs and/or underfloor heating manifolds to individually zone properties has enormous potential to reduce energy consumption; and it could reduce it by 30%-40%. In addition to the cost savings, think of the impact on carbon.


However, we still see in specifications today the use of low tech programmer controllers. There is no sound reason for it. The better technology is here and available, it just needs us to put it together. It’s not now for us to invent something new to solve this issue, it’s about us realising what is there and working together to ensure the most efficient products are used in our schemes.


People like to describe these things as “smart homes”. To me, it’s just obvious. It’s not about being smart, it’s about being sensible. You wouldn’t choose the simplest, most inefficient technology for your home, so why do we choose it elsewhere?


Planned Preventative Maintenance


As is often the case in any environment, the devil is in the detail. Operators need to effectively find a way to drill down to a granular level. They need to see the basic


things and where they’re going wrong. Whether it’s a blocked filter or the function of the system or HIU is faulty, it needs to be visible so that operators can act upon it immediately. It’s not good enough that checks are just part of a 12 month maintenance cycle. By then an issue could have been in existence for 6 months, for example, leaving it beyond repair. In order to make this critical information available it needs to be visualised. Producing spreadsheets or reports in today’s world is too slow. We need to share critical data in real time ways. To visualise it and make it interactive for the operators, so that they can be far more responsive, has to be the way forward. Highlighting the key performance indicators of schemes to those people who don’t have full engineering backgrounds is going to be a vital step forward in improving how our schemes work.


We need to work much more closely together and make sure there’s an open discussion between all interested parties – like consultants, designers, architects and developers. This is the only way to achieve a better solution that will meet the needs of energy networks over the next ten to twenty years.


I welcome like minded people to connect with me and discuss this further. If you feel as I do, please do reach out. It’s time for change.


After gaining a degree in Computing, Bill began his career at Honeywell Control Systems and GEC Plessey Telecommunications. Following that, he started his own business. About 25 years ago, he came across his first District Heating Scheme and since then he’s developed systems for over 60 different District Heating Schemes. His company, Energy Billing, provides solutions for prepayment, metering and billing, and they do work for some of the largest Housing Associations in the country with over 20,000 meter points.


BSEE


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BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER SEPTEMBER 2020 35


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